The present invention relates to evaporative air coolers and more particularly to means for the retention of the porous evaporative pads in evaporative air coolers.
An evaporative air cooler operates by drawing air through a continuously wetted, porous evaporative pad which has the properties of readily distributing water throughout it""s bulk, and offering low airflow resistance to the passage of air through the bulk of the pad. Evaporation of the water from the pad takes place thereby reducing the temperature of the water within the pad which then cools the air passing through the pad and causing the evaporation.
One type of evaporative pad in popular use is made from sheets of corrugated paper set at alternating angles, glued together in such a way that the contact points of the corrugations are cemented, thus producing a rigid block of the material. The blocks so produced are sawn into a rectangular cuboid shape suitable for the pad of an evaporative air cooler. The pads so produced are rigid and self supporting even when wet. They are produced commercially under the name xe2x80x9cCeldekxe2x80x9d and other names. They must, however, be supported in an evaporative air cooler in such a way that air can only enter the cooler through the evaporative pads. The support must be such that the pads are held firmly in place in their frames against any air pressure differential across them, and against any dislodging forces during storage, transportation and installation of the evaporative air cooler.
Various devices have been used to hold the pads in place in evaporative air coolers. A traditional method has been to surround the entire pad in a frame around the periphery, thereby providing support on all edges. This method requires a long length of support frame with corner fittings making it necessarily expensive. An alternative method of support and restraint is the subject of Australian Patent Application No. 56251/196 by F. F. Seeley Nominees Pty Ltd, in which a long pin pushed through the pad and clipped on the inside of the cooler firmly holds the pad against the pad frame. This method is considerably less expensive, but does require holes through the pad frame for the insertion of the pins. It also requires a clip to be installed as a separate part and at some cost of time for installation.
The present invention provides an alternative means for positioning and supporting pads in an evaporative air cooler. Preferred embodiments of the invention require a minimal number of parts, are easily installed, and can be readily adjusted to a range of positions to provide the optimum support for the pad.
A retaining means for evaporative cooler pads comprising a clip wherein the clip is resiliently deformable to enable fitment between a pair of evaporative cooler pads and wherein the evaporative cooler pads are retained in position upon release of the deforming force from the clip.